An Application of Catholic Social Teaching to Human Sexuality in Light of Intersex Person, Legally Mom: Real Women’s Stories of Balancing Motherhood and Law Practice and Adobe Photoshop: Painting with Pixels are the topics that will be highlighted at Ursuline College’s 2013 Faculty Lecture Series held on February 19, March 20 and April 11, 7-8:30 PM. The lectures will be held in the Mullen Academic Center Little Theater (Room 113), 2550 Lander Road, Pepper Pike.

The Tuesday, February 19 lecture, An Application of Catholic Social Teaching to Human Sexuality in Light of Intersex Person will be given by Natalie Weaver, Ph.D. She will be discussing the widespread debate over the adequacy of understanding human sexuality. Assumed in all the debates is an implicit understanding of maleness and femaleness as fixed categories into which human persons neatly fall. This talk will review the dimorphic conception of human sexuality through a theological discussion of physical and sexual ambiguity.

Weaver is chair and associate professor of religious studies and director of the humanities program at Ursuline. She has presented research on an array of topics in theology at regional, national and international conferences. She has published Marriage and Family: A Christian Theological Foundation (Anselm, 2009); Christian Thought and Practice: A Primer (Anselm, 2012); and The Theology of Suffering: An Introduction for Caregivers (Routledge, 2013). Her areas of interest and expertise include feminist theology, theology of suffering and death, theology of the family, and religion and violence.

Legally Mom: Real Women’s Stories of Balancing Motherhood and Law Practice is the topic of the Wednesday, March 20 lecture by Ursuline faculty member Anne Murphy Brown, J.D. In June 2012, the American Bar Association published Murphy Brown’s book, Legally Mom: Real Women’s Stories of Balancing Motherhood and Law Practice. This lecture details her research on the challenges and choices women working in the law confront as they embark on motherhood. She will incorporate comprehensive statistics on women in the legal profession and discuss her qualitative research in which she interviewed twenty-five women across the country on their experience as legal moms.

Assistant Professor and Director of Legal Studies Program, Murphy Brown graduated from John Carroll University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois. She began her career in litigation and practiced primarily business and corporate law before entering academia. Murphy Brown’s research areas include legal ethics, work-life balance and employment law.

On Thursday, April 11, Sr. Rosaria Perna, O.S.U., M.F.A., Ursuline associate professor of art, will give a lecture titled, Adobe Photoshop: Painting with Pixels. Sr. Rosaria will demonstrate the process she uses to make digital art. The combination of paint, graphite and photography are woven together to produce imaginative and inspiring images. The images are both spiritual in nature and visually meshed with the natural sciences.

Sr. Rosaria has taught Visual Communication Design at Ursuline College for the past 19 years. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 at Ursuline, a Masters of Fine Arts in Visual Communication Design from Kent State University and a Master of Arts from New York University where she completed the study abroad program in Venice, Italy.

“The fourteenth annual Faculty Lecture Series showcases the research and expertise of the College’s experienced faculty,” said JoAnne Podis, Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs. She added that the variety and scope of this year’s lectures are reflective of the richness and diversity of an Ursuline liberal arts education.

The lectures are free and open to the public and are followed by a reception. For more information call 440 684 6069.